’Twas from such small Seed that my drill’d _Lammas_ Wheat produced the Ears of that monstrous Length described in this Chapter. I never saw the like, except in that one Year; and the Grains were large also. And as full Proofs have I seen of thin Seed-wheat escaping the Smut, when plump large grain’d Seed of the same Sort have been smutty. Six Gallons of middle-siz’d Seed we most commonly drill on an Acre; yet, on rich Land planted early, Four Gallons may suffice; because then the Wheat will have Roots at the Top of the Ground before Winter, and tiller very much, without Danger of the Worms, and other Accidents, that late-planted Wheat is liable to. If it is drill’d too thick, ’twill be in Danger of falling; if too thin, it may happen to tiller so late in the Spring, that some of the Ears may be blighted; yet a little thicker or thinner does not matter. As to the Depth, we may plant from half an Inch, to three Inches deep; if planted too deep, there is more Danger of its being eaten off by Worms, betwixt the Grain and the Blade[113]; for as that Thread is the Thread of Life during the Winter (if not planted early), so the longer the Thread is, the more Danger will there be of the Worms[114]. [113] A Wheat plant, that is not planted early, sends out no Root above the Grain before the Spring; and is nourish’d all the Winter by a single Thread, proceeding from the Grain up to the Surface of the Ground. [114] Because the Worms can more easily find a Thread, that extends by its Length to five or six Inches Depth, than one which reaches but One Inch; and besides, the Worms in Winter do not inhabit very near the Surface of the Ground; and therefore also miss the short Threads, and meet with the long ones. ’Tis a necessary Caution to beware of the Rooks[115], just as the Wheat begins to peep; for before you can perceive it to be coming up, they will find it, and dig it up to eat the Grain; therefore you must keep them off for a Week or Ten Days; and in that time the Blade will become green, and the Grain so much exhausted of its Flour, that the Rooks think it not worth while to dig after it. [115] ’Tis true, that Wheat which is planted early enough for its Grain to be unfit for the Rooks, before the Corn that is left on the Ground at Harvest is either all eaten by them, or by Swine, or else grow’d, plowed in, or otherwise spoiled, is in no Danger: but as this sometimes happens soon after Harvest, the Time of which is uncertain, a timely Care is necessary.